Laughter and Screams Sound Very Much Alike
by MiyuTanemura
Summary: AU.Destiny can be cruel. When the paths of Natsu and Gray cross, unexpected and terrible things happen. Gray/Natsu/Gray
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

* * *

Warning: This story will contain scenes of mature content. The theme is overall a heavy one and I'm afraid that there will be some WTF moments and things that might appear as squicks (maybe not that much but it's better to err on the safe side).

It has been edited due to ffn's directives. I think that it is passable as it is now but, if you want to read the original version, please head to my Livejournal.

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_Laughter and Screams Sound very much alike_

Chapter One

The sun was high in the cloudless blue sky. Birds flew lazily by, their bodies black scratches outlined against the cerulean background. A gentle breeze was blowing.

Underneath the blue immensity lay a city. The tall buildings suggested rigidity and immobility from afar but, if one were to look closer, they would see that the city was brimming with activity and energy.

It was not only the speed of the masses moving, the closer you got, the more assaulted your senses would be. One would enter a whirlwind of movement where the blaring of the TVs would make you feel a vertigo, at the colours' dizzying speed; and then the scent of food would both pull you down and lift you a meter from the ground, with the heavenly scents. People were moving in every direction, businessmen in their dark suits and with closed faces, wives shopping, groups of students in their school uniforms and other youths in outrageous clothing.

If one were to look closer and wait for the next set of commercials, something would be noticeable – a dark haired young man. Looking around, that young man would be in the covers of a lot of magazines and in billboards.

Girls gather here and there to giggle excitedly at what they're reading, but mostly they don't tire of ogling that 'amazing body' – which tends to be barely clad most of the time, to their satisfaction.

* * *

In a calmer area of the city, with buildings of a lighter colour, the action starts…

The flash has been going constantly, the model has just taken a set of amazing photos.

"Stop! Time for a new outfit," the photographer says. People instantly jump into motion as when the renowned photographer Freed Justine (who was also quite temperamental) wanted something, it had to be done ASAP.

The dark haired model was ushered to an adjoining room where he quickly put on his new outfit. Then he sat and waited for the make-up artist to do her touches.

"Gray, come back here!"

The dark haired youth got up and returned to the set and paused for a beat, waiting for the director of photography's direction.

"Just continue like you were doing it earlier."

Gray nodded and got into a pose. In no time the camera started flashing once again, the photographer letting out some muttered words and doing pleased noises.

It didn't take long before Gray was upping the ante and taking off his shirt, the poses becoming more sensual and the room started to heat up.

Gray's eyes darkened slightly as he lost himself in the moment he was acting, creating a sight to behold.

Inwardly, Gray noticed how everybody that was working at the shoot seemed to be enthralled by him and his movements. It was no wonder that he was moving people all around the country – his effect over a room of people that had already worked with him, and were "used" to him, was as strong as it had been on the first day.

Gray Fullbuster, the greatest model of Japan since Mirajane. She had been huge a decade ago but people still remembered her. He was everywhere. And people couldn't stop looking into those glossy dark eyes.

Fortunately they were at the last outfit so, when Freed was satisfied, they wrapped up the shoot. People hurried to clean stuff up and Gray returned to the chair he had previously occupied, leaving the shirt behind. Wendy was there, ready to take off the make-up. Her smile was encouraging but Gray paid her no mind, waiting for her to do her job while his expression was neutral, edging on bored.

The young make-up artist was babbling about something and it started grating on the model's nerves.

"Will you shut up?" he burst out.

Everybody seemed to freeze at that moment. All the eyes set on the pair as Gray got up and went to his dressing room. The door closed with a bang.

Inside the softly lit room Gray's aloofness returned to him as he got rid of every piece of clothes that still clung into him and threw himself to the small sofa.

He was tired of all these babbly people. They were so annoying.

But it kind of felt good to have his picture out there and being worshipped to that extent. It made Bob happy so he was happy too. At least there would be no shit coming from there.

He got up and fetched his clothes, noticing some magazines on top of the coffee table. He picked it up and sat down, flipping it till he got to the interview.

Some pictures accompanied it, where he was smiling dazzlingly. The interviewer was asking him the same questions he had answered time and again, although there were some that were new. Then again, he was in this relationship for a little while and some time they had to be done.

He snorted derisively at his answers. He was lying, only saying what he thought the others would want to hear. And that made him more famous, how he was so nice and friendly – that was all that mattered. The goal.

There was a knock on the door and Lucy poked her head through the small space.

"Gray, can I come in?" said the blonde.

"Whatever." Gray threw the magazine to the table and leaned back on the comfy sofa. "What's up?"

"Gray! You shouldn't be naked. Go dress or something, will you?" She threw him a robe and watched as it fell over his midsection. Then she straightened up and continued, professionally. "I'm here with your schedule," said the stressed blonde, who had a pile of papers on one arm, and was grabbing a bottle of water on the other. "And I brought your water." She walked to the coffee table and dumped the papers over it, laying the bottle of water in front of him. Gray watched her, impassively, eyes glued to her impressive bosom. When she got up and turned to go fetch him a tumbler, he couldn't help but appreciate her backside. Her tight skirt _did_ hug all her curves admirably.

When she set the tumbler in front of him, she sat on the chair that was on the other side of the table. She grabbed some of the papers.

"Alright, let's start. So, you have another interview for _Strapless magazine_ tomorrow, we have to meet the _Soycahntel_ sponsors – Bob will be with us – and there's the rehearsal for your appearance at _Late Night with Cana Alberona_, we're going to meet the staff of _Say Yeah!_ and I think that you'll have to do a guest appearance at _Fiery Nights_ with Macao." She noticed Gray lean forward and tangling his fingers, he looked seriously at her. Her expression was suspicious although her lips remained pressed against each other.

"Hey Lucy?" She stopped and looked at him, making an inquisitive noise. "Let's fuck."

"Gray, will you stop those jokes? We have work to do and you have two appointments today, still!" she answered annoyed.

"But I want to fuck you. You look so hot," He got up and went to stand behind her, the robe sliding to the floor forgotten. "and you've been being a tease." His hands rested on her shoulders for some instants and started massaging, as if trying to guile her to do what he wanted.

Lucy took a deep breath. "I said no. Besides, did you forget the agreement?" she said in a monotone.

Gray just hummed as he freed her hair from its bun, clearly not listening to her.

"But I was so sad," he breathed in her ear, "until you got here. Let me play with you… just this once…" he said in his most enticing voice, one hand cupping her breast under the bra.

"Gray…!"

The dark haired one cut her off by pressing his lips against hers. He quickly went to stand in front of her, throwing the papers to the ground with a flick of his wrist. He saw her looking up at him, eyes glazed and troubled.

* * *

"Thanks. I needed that."

And with that Gray manoeuvred her so that she was lying on her side on the sofa.

Lucy sat up, her breathing slower now. She seemed unhappy however her professional composure was returning to her, still flushed, stance.

"As I was saying, you still have two appointments today. Dinner with mister Lyon Vastia and later, go out with miss Juvia Lockser. Bob told me that _Lockser Crafts & Stones_ is going to have an important exhibit and that you should attend to it. I'll make sure to write it on the agenda." As she spoke, Lucy got up and scribbled some notes on a small notebook and she waited impatiently for Gray to say something, while still in complete disarray.

"Fine. I'll see to it. But for now, it's dinner with Lyon." He stretched out, a stripe of skin showing under his deep blue shirt. He grabbed his grey coat and got ready to leave, cellphone in hand. He looked back. "So, here it's done."

"It is. But, Gray, you must control your temper. Bob won't be happy to hear about this…" Lucy had grabbed all her papers and stuffed them in a bag, having already composed herself. Her cellphone trembled in her hand.

"I'll deal with it later." Gray waved, dismissively.

"If you say so." Lucy answered the phone and followed Gray out the room. After the usual polite conversation, they finally left the building and headed to the car that was parked just a couple of meters away.

Lucy drove Gray to the restaurant. It was in the high side of the town, one of the most and expensive ones. When they parked in one of the side streets, right outside one of the "secret" entrances to the French restaurant, _Conte de Fées_, and she turned back to stare at him.

"When you're done send me a text. I'll have Bickslow come pick you up." She said, grabbing her phone – that was, once again, vibrating.

"Don't bother. Lyon'll take me home;" and he left the car, heading to the main entrance, where a number or paparazzi immediately started taking pictures of him – and thankfully the restaurant's security also got into action, protecting him. Behind, he could hear Lucy's disgruntled yell which made him smirk inwardly. On the outside, he smiled and waved at them, but then his eye was caught by something (more like, someone) that was on the other side of the road.

He saw that two people were looking at him, leaning against a nondescript dark car. What stood to attention was their hair colour. The guy had pink, spiky hair and the woman had a deep red. It was long and flowed freely over her shoulders.

Gray thought that it was strange. The paparazzi were usually swarming the door and, what else would you do in this place if not wanting to look at the famous people and try to take a picture of them? Gray shrugged and entered, quickly being welcomed by the maitre d'.

But, he could still feel the stare of the pink haired guy on the back of his skull.

"Monsieur Fullbus_ter_, so nice to have you here. You can go to your usual table." He accompanied him to a secluded table where a pale grey haired young man was sitting.

"Hello, brother."

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, here is a new one.

I've had the impulse to write this one (aka, was hit by this vicious bunny) when I saw the trailer for the film adaptation of the Helter Skelter manga. It's a pretty straightforward bunny, with a story that goes quite along with the manga although I do hope to pull some surprises off my sleeve.

I apologize for the OoC-ness here, but the story would only work if Gray was on the slutty side of the spectre. He has a lot of fun here, but I can't wait to get further into the story to the good stuff. And there are some bits of OoC-ness that are meant to be like that (the better case being Lucy – don't worry that it has an explanation).

At first I planned this story to be a small one (circa 10 chapters) but the more I think about the plot, the more it grows and right now I don't know how many chapters this one'll have…

I would like to thank Nightslayr for the beta, as usual. You rock, girl!

As usual, any feedback will be awesome but for this one the reviews will act as a measure for me to see if people are interested in the story. So, if I have a good number of reviews, I'll update in a week, if not, the next update will be within a month. It's your turn now.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own anything.

Warning: Natsu came out as very OoC. My apologies…

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Chapter Two

The light-grey haired man's eyes lifted, from scanning the menu towards the newcomer.

"You're late." He said, sternly.

Gray shrugged and sat down, smirking. "I was busy. You know, with stuff… You should try it too, Lyon, maybe that way you'd relax a little."

Lyon seemed to be trying to refrain himself from glaring, as they were in a public space. Gray kept smirking.

"You know that I don't have time to spend doing those frivolities. My work takes all my time, if you forgot…" He folded the menu and placed it on the table top.

"You could take a break, you know? Or, half a day. Things wouldn't crash down and burn," Gray remarked, chin resting in the palm of his hand. "But how are things, anyway? Everything going well?"

Lyon cleared his throat and nodded. "Yes, business is flourishing. The number of people looking for our products reduplicated and everything's going fine."

The conversation stopped momentarily as they ordered their food and drinks. While the waiter disappeared, Lyon turned to Gray, serious again.

"By the way, your package has been sent already. It'll probably be at your house. Don't forget to take care of it, guard it safely and to take it."

Gray crossed his arms and glared. "Who do you think I am? A small child? I know how to take care of things. And no, I won't forget to take it." He started toying with his napkin, his mood having gone sour.

The waiter came back with their drinks. She served them and went back.

Lyon was smirking, seemingly nonplussed by Gray's antics. He produced an envelope from one of the pockets of his coat, which was hanging behind him.

"Don't you start with that. Here, I have something that'll probably lift your bad mood." he extended his arm, until the white paper was right in front of Gray's face. "I have a letter from Ultear. Apparently her vacations took her to Dubai. She seems to be having fun."

Gray grabbed the envelope and opened it, taking the letter and unfolding it. It was the same thing as usual; she was having a lot of fun and seeing amazing things and meeting awesome people but she still had to keep travelling. How she misses her brothers so much and how they would love to see what she's seeing. As he finished reading he couldn't help but wonder aloud; "When will she come back to Tokyo? It's been such a long time since we last met each other. I can barely remember her. And she never calls, just sends these letters…"

As the model was looking down at the paper, he didn't see Lyon going tense. The grey haired one was silent, his mouth hanging open until he caught himself and scoffed, while leaning back on his chair and forcibly relaxing.

Gray lifted his eyes towards his brother.

"You know how she needs to travel. She should continue doing it. We have the money to support her. You can't forget that it's good for her health, after the incident with mother…"

With a sigh Gray folded back the letter and put it back on the envelope.

"I do know but, I miss her."

* * *

On the outside, the two figures from before were sitting on their nondescript car. The weather was turning and becoming unpleasant so they had had to take refuge.

"There you have it. The famous celebrities, each more empty than the other…" the pink haired one said, hand rummaging through the paper bag that held their food.

"What do you want? We live shallow times. The only thing that matters is that you're famous. No matter how. You just have to have a scandal and you're in the spotlight. I don't understand this concept of being famous just for the sake of being famous. It makes no sense." The red haired one shook her head, leaning forward and crossing her arms on top of the steering wheel. "Will you hurry with the food? I only hear you rummaging inside the bag."

"I'm trying to find your food. It must be at the bottom…"

"That's because you nearly ordered the whole restaurant, Natsu. Your stomach is a bottomless pit, isn't it?"

"We've been partnered for less than a fortnight and you already know me that well. Good to know." Natsu grinned openly at her, finally presenting her with the food. When the red head rolled her eyes and started eating, his face scrunched in mock hurt and he pouted. "Your attitude wounds me, Erza."

"As long as you're hurt you're not spouting nonsense. Now, back to work," she said between bites on her hamburger, going back to the serious and focused (and sometimes scary) detective that was Erza Scarlet. "What do we know about this case?"

"Right!" Natsu replied as he chewed on his first hamburger and shoved some fries to his mouth. "Well, youchnomp beein' 're f-" His tirade stopped as the other lifted a hand to make him shut up, face scrunched in disgust.

"Chew and swallow first, talk later. Are we clear?"

Natsu started laughing and nearly choked on the food but, complied.

"As I was saying, you haven't been here for long but there are some ideas that you probably have already. A part of this case has been a public affair some time ago." Natsu gave another bite and chewed, pensively. "There have been several deaths due to an unknown substance that's been in the black market for quite a while. The first deaths date from five years ago. Our main suspect is the person that the Ice Shard went to meet now."

"Wait, Ice Shard? What-?" Erza was confused.

Natsu waved and cut her off, "It's a long story. As I was saying, we have high suspicion that the person that Gray Fullbuster has just went to meet is at the head of the producers of that substance."

"Okay, and the substance is called '_Life Elixir_'…" added Erza, flipping through some files that she had taken from the back seat.

Natsu grabbed another bunch of files and, after placing the precious bag of food on the dashboard, took some gory pictures and skimmed through them. He made a face before turning to his partner. "Yes. It seems that all of these deaths," he spread out the pictures on his lap, "were caused because the victims drank it."

"But… I don't think that I understand it very well…"

"Oh, right. You came from Hokkaido a little while ago, you probably only heard these news through the media and, therefore, distorted… Right. So, let me update you; the Elixir was an invention by the genial scientist, Ur Milkovich. She, somehow found and perfected the formula for eternal rejuvenating. She used to work for _Grimoire Heart Research Corporation_ but as soon as she found this (and copyrighted it) she left and created her own enterprise, _Iced Æterna, Inc_. That's a very wealthy and expanding company, as you know. Their products are of great quality and very expensive. This is one of the reasons why we also have our suspicion towards them, there are registers of large sums of money that have no reason… well, we know that there's money laundering somewhere in the middle of this." Natsu paused to take a sip of his drink.

"Huh, where was I? Oh, right. Ur had a daughter, Ultear, and by some unknown reason, she adopted two boys, Gray and Lyon. And, at the same time, she kept working in her lab. Turns out that one day there was a big explosion at the lab. To this day nobody knows who, what or how but, somehow, some reagents got mixed together and… well, huge boom. Ur survived but a good number of people died, more were injured and, due to the chemical nature of the wounds, the majority of that people were seriously injured. Records said that her daughter was one of those people." Natsu grabbed one folder and started looking for something as he spoke. Not finding it, he leaned back on the seat and continued.

"Her situation was, apparently, so serious that she went under the grid and nobody knows what happened in the end. Although the most likely case is that she died." Natsu picked the photos and ordered the files into a pile.

"I remember hearing the news about the explosion. It was a nasty thing," Erza recalled.

Natsu nodded. "Yeah. Well, afterwards, the scientist went mad at the loss. In one minute we heard that she had gone on a sort of rampage, trying to repeat the disaster but at the same time she was taking care of the boys. After a while she disappeared. Plain and simple as that." He shrugged. "Apparently one of the boys, Lyon, took her place in front of the _Iced Æterna, Inc._… but we have some info on the shadow company – which has been selling the 'Life Elixir' – and he's also at the head of it. These illicit transactions might explain the immense income he's getting. Their finances are being studied but, despite this suspicion, we don't have anything." Natsu leaned back and exhaled noisily. "This situation has the higher ups under a lot of stress. Besides, this has parts which are off the books so if something happens we're all in for a huge mess… The old man, I mean, the boss said that the opposition's already moving so, our time's running out – fast."

"So that's why they ended up calling me here…" Erza concluded. "They didn't give me a proper explanation."

"This is under wraps, don't forget. So the boss couldn't tell you, earlier. But your contribution is going to be important. You're very methodical and had a case with something minimally similar…"

"You mean the Inada case? Hm, you do know how bad that ended up, right?" Unconsciously her hand raised to her right eye before clenching and hitting the wheel.

"This one's different. But it might be helpful… But, time to work again. They're leaving."

They watched as the restaurant's security crew got into motion as the 'brothers' exited the restaurant.

Natsu noticed that Gray was looking towards him and, after a while, his eyes bore straight into Natsu's. This elicited a smile from the pink haired one, who folded his arms on the dashboard and leaned forward.

'We meet again, Ice Shard, huh…?'

* * *

Despite the intermittent flashes Gray noticed that the pair he had noticed earlier was still there. 'Strange,' he thought. 'if they're not paparazzi they have no reason to be here. And if they're paparazzi they should be here following us, I think. Then again… me and Lyon aren't the only celebrities here they could… Ha! We're the only thing that matters here, right now.' As he was wondering about this, his eyes met the pink haired ones and he felt a shiver run down his spine.

Strangely it's anticipation, this thing he feels.

* * *

The lights of the cars that passed on the street danced on the ceiling of Gray's dark room.

He's lying on his king sized bed, staring idly at the fugitive lights that appear every now and then. After a while he starts to squirm, not finding a comfortable position, feeling constricted. He doesn't take long to realize that the boxers that he's still wearing (the rest of his clothes have been discarded on his way to his room and make a trail through the flat) are what's making him feel this way. In no time they're flying to some far corner of the room. Gray stretches and flops on the bed.

He met with Juvia after his dinner with Lyon. They went out for a coffee in one of the new and hyped coffee shops that he had heard of. It was okay. What wasn't all that much to his taste was the mindless chit chat that they had. Did she have to be so boring and shy? He should have rented a hotel room for some fun. Not this. _This_ tired him immensely.

He turns and looks at the clock. It reads 02:48. He has to sleep! In the morning (or, more accurately, in four hours) he has to get up and go meet with Lucy to start the day – and he had to have his rest. Then again, what was it she had said? He didn't pay attention, looking at her boobs and all…

No! Thinking about that is not going to help matters.

Unless…

It was true that jerking off relaxed him – he should've thought of that earlier – and would probably make sleep come faster but…

He couldn't do it. He was feeling weird. Could it be that Ultear's letter had disturbed him in any way, after three months of absence? Or was it the other man's stare…? Many men had looked at him but never so…

Gray could feel a chill travelling his limbs.

He turned to his back again and spread out on the bed.

In the end, although with some difficulty, Gray managed to fall asleep.

* * *

**A/N:** First of all, I apologize for taking so long to post this chapter. I had some unexpected things happening…

Anyway, not much happens in this chapter. Except the immense OoC-ness. I'm so, so sorry for that. But it was the way the Muse wanted so… what can a poor writer do? XD  
Anyway, I hope the chapter was enjoyable, in the least.

As usual, my thanks to Subkulture for the beta – I don't know what I would do without you. :D

Feedback is always appreciated. See you in a month.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own anything.

* * *

Chapter Three

25.000 years BP

There's a slight change in the air which indicates that dawn is coming.

Everything is still but the slight breeze that is blowing is making the vegetation sway.

The sky is getting clearer.

A lone creature, a human, is crouching behind some high herbs. They're of a golden brown colour, which allows him to be hidden, since the furs that cover his body are of a similar colour. Muscles protrude in both his arms and legs as he shifts slightly, getting a better hold on the piece of leather he holds on his right hand and on the flat rock that he has on the left one. His dark eyes are surveying his surroundings attentively. He has to shake his head so that the bangs stop covering his eyes.

There's a shift in the wind and he has to move to another position so that his scent doesn't alert the prey.

Suddenly there's a rustle, something moves from the bushes and is moving at high speed.

The dark haired male swiftly gets into action, quickly placing the rock on the slight hollow in the middle of the leather and gyrates it above his head, gaining momentum. With a flick of his wrist the rock flies out, creating an arc. A dull thud can be heard and the man moves quick and silently through the herbs.

He caught a rabbit.

It's a nice addition to the rest of his stock, which waits for him at his cavern.

As he made his trek back to his temporary shelter, he was thinking about his current task. Well, for him this whole trial for him to come of age was too easy so far. He had finished the main task already (the beast's skin was spread out and drying already) and now had to wait more, well, a hand of dark periods…

But he would be getting back to his clan pretty soon and that's all that mattered.

When he got to the cave, he instantly noticed that there was something strange… somebody was nearby. But they shouldn't. The Chief had told him that this area was deserted (it was the reason why the tests happened here). His muscles instantly tensed, his whole body going to alert-mode.

The intruder was after his food!

He put the rabbit on a corner, to worry about it later and, inched closer to the cave's entry.

The person was close…

And making noise? Didn't they want to attack him to get his things? Where was their stealth?

Finally, the figure decided to enter his cave. The dark haired man threw himself at the other, making them tumble on the dry leaves, small rocks and grass that comprised the entrance.

They rolled on the ground, muscles bunching and shifting. Grunts permeated the air.

The dark haired one pushed the other off of him so that they were kneeling and facing each other. He was breathing hard but so was the other – blood running from a small cut on his temple. The stranger was dressed in thin, dusty furs; a hair that seemed to be pink was light brown overall due to the dust and eyes pierced his in challenge.

The dark haired man opened his mouth but the other was faster and was talking – but the noises he made were odd and way too hoarse. But he tried to ask the other, anyway, what was he doing here.

The other man shook his head, a menacing frown in his features. He let out a growl and got up.

The dark haired man answered that growl with one of his own, also standing up.

Now it was easier to notice more things. The pink haired man was shorter but his physical constitution, despite lean, was stronger, he had muscles more developed.

He took a couple of steps towards the cave that made the dark haired one hurry to step in his way. He shook his head. He was _not_ going to enter.

The other shuffled his feet and seemed to want to try to move past his so he threw himself at him, they rolled on the ground, grappling once again but the taller one ended up top this time.

Distractedly, his tried to grasp the first thing that came to hand and it ended up being one of the stones he used to hunt.

Without thinking he started hitting the other's head with it, blood starting to flow and the body underneath struggling.

When it finally stopped, the dark haired man was gasping, the head of the body that was underneath him was a bloody pulp and his forearms were covered in that sticky red fluid.

A strangled noise caught in his throat and he jumped out of the corpse.

His senses got back to normal and he instantly thought of the predators. The scent of blood would bring them to this place – he did _not_ want that.

With some well-aimed expletives he started to drag the body to somewhere far from his shelter.

Apparently he had had his fun…

* * *

**A/N:** So, yeah, some weirdness in this chapter. But it has a reason to be. So, please bear with me for the next chapter.

Hopefully it will more understandable.

I find it funny that nobody realized that I had posted this chapter on AO3 some months ago. Oh well... I dunno when there might be an update, then again, there is no interest in the story anyway...

My dearest friend Subkulture only had the chance to give this a cursory look. So, all the mistakes are mine since I've been adding some stuff to the text.

As usual, feedback is highly appreciated.


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